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Reviews steps for outlining a novel as described in K.M. Weiland’s book “Outlining Your Novel”. Me to self: “I should start writing something. I could have another book done in like a year if I follow the process in that book. It doesn’t have to take as long as the last one—it will be so…Read more …

Write, or write about writing? Do, or write about doing? It can be useful to stop and reflect and record, but it can be dangerous to delay moving forward. To disrupt momentum. To navel gaze. Just as it can be dangerous to never stop and savor, internalize, process. How to choose which activity is most…Read more …

November: she took out my candidate, my football team, my refrigerator, my phone screen, and the power in my writing room, but she couldn’t stop me from writing. She stressed me, depressed me, disappointed and annoyed me, but it was all in vain, because I still wrote 50,000 words and met my goal of participating…Read more …

Novel revisions have been a learn-as-I-go process. And since I’ve been working on this novel for years, it’s getting harder and harder to come up with creative answers to the question “How’s the novel coming?” that sound like I am making any progress at all. So this week I started telling people that novel revisions…Read more …

I read about a group/blog called YA Buccaneers that run a NaNoWriMo prep/Fall Writing Bootcamp. The workbook you get if you sign up walks you through creating goals and coming up with ways to meet those goals on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, as well as suggesting you come up with rewards to give…Read more …

In response to my recent rejections, a dear friend sent me a link to The Rejection Generator Project, where you can preemptively select your own rejection letter in order to prepare you for the real thing. I tried out a few, and found the Shame Missile to be most effective at penetrating my toughening skin:…Read more …

It’s not that I keep a tally of my rejections—okay maybe I do. They’re in a spreadsheet where I list all the pieces I’ve sent out, when, and whether they were accepted or not. But the point is more to track what I’ve sent where and what I’m still waiting to hear back on than…Read more …

I created this online place to share about my writing and the things that inspire me. And by “I” in that last sentence I mean that my husband built this website to my unclear and ever-changing specifications and my friend Dane took the headshots. But I wrote the bio! While writing seems like a singular…Read more …